


those blue skies day after day

by fabaulti



Category: Led Zeppelin
Genre: Banter, Fluff, Gen, because of course he would, robert gets attached, that's literally it - Freeform, they save a puppy and joke around
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:14:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22755346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabaulti/pseuds/fabaulti
Summary: While on tour, Robert saves an abandoned puppy. The band somehow gets involved as well.
Kudos: 4





	those blue skies day after day

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this last year when I was trying to escape from the deep pits of my Led Zeppelin obsession posted it on tumblr. I stumbled across it while cleaning my documents and I quite enjoyed rereading it so I thought I might post it on AO3 too. Enjoy!

There is a fair chance Robert is losing his mind, Bonzo thinks. If his instant mood shift doesn’t prove it, the fact that he asks him to pull over has to.

“Are you out of it, mate? I can’t just pull over in the middle of the road.”

“Pull. Over. Now.” Robert insists like his life depends on it and Bonzo finds himself complying.

It’s not that he’s scared of what Robert might do if he’s denied; quite frankly Robert wouldn’t be able to hurt a fly even, but he’s curious enough to see where all of this is going. So he gets the car as close to the pavement as he is able to before stopping it’s motion and watches his band mate step into the heavy rain with a determined look on his face.

Lucky, Robert is swift in whatever he’s doing; he gets back before anyone gives them any trouble. The only problems Bonzo can find is the fact that Robert is soaking wet, which means the passenger seat is too. The other one takes the shape of a small, pathetic being curled into the blond’s arms.

Bonzo groans in annoyance.

“Do I need to remind you this is a rented car?”

“Oh zip it. I couldn’t leave the poor thing out there to die,” Robert snaps at him.

Bonzo isn’t sure how exactly did Robert manage to even see the tiny creature behind the wall of rain and above that, he damn well wished to hear what was his plan with it.

“You plan on sneaking it into the hotel.”

It isn’t phrased as a question so Robert feels no need to answer. He holds onto the tiny, shivering creature, trying to dry it with his coat as best as he can.

It’s only a puppy, Bonzo notices and if someone asked him, he’d say it’s the ugliest puppy he’s ever seen, which shouldn’t make sense; all puppies are cute, right? It’s fur is dirty and tangled, brown with black spots that look oddly out of place. It’s eyes seem sad yet hopeful.

“That’s one ugly dog.”

“Shut up and drive, Bonzo.”

* * *

Another problem the drummer encounters is that he doesn’t remember ever agreeing to take part in Robert’s puppy rescue mission, but somehow he still ends up with the tiny dog under his coat and the task of smuggling it into the singer’s hotel room.

To his credit, the puppy—who Bonzo totally gets to name—is too scared to get all feisty on him and for the most part stays put in the oversized inner pocket of his coat.

They try to cross the reception hall as unsuspiciously as possible. There is a big chance that makes them even more suspicious but hardly anyone seems to care about any passing by rock stars that day so they get into the elevator fairly easy.

There isn’t anyone there besides a tiny brunette Bonzo remembers seeing around Robert’s room the previous night.

“I see the rain hasn’t spared you,” she comments and Robert is quick to engage in small talk about the weather. It takes Bonzo all of his willpower not to roll his eyes.

There is a moment of awkward silence among them but it’s not long, for gets interrupted by a quiet, cute little sneeze.

“What was that?” the brunette asks.

“What was what?”

“It came from his coat,” she says, pointing at Bonzo.

Robert figures there isn’t any point of hiding any longer and Alma is trust worthy enough (Bonzo doesn’t comment on the fact that Robert seems to believe that about every girl he sleeps with) so they show her the puppy which she immediately demands to hold as Robert fills her in with the details.

“He’s kinda ugly to be honest… and quite smelly,” Alma states after a quick sniff. “But I believe a good bath would fix that. Do you have any food for the poor thing?”

Before Robert gets the chance to answer, the elevator’s door opens unexpectedly and out of all the people in the world, the manager walks in.

Bonzo isn’t the type to give a damn about managers or anyone remotely related to authority, but this bloke he remembers and he’s pretty sure it’s mutual, given that he almost broke the guy’s nose.

Peter somehow managed not to get them all thrown out of the hotel, but he’s not here anymore and there’s a fair chance Mr. Goldson won’t be too happy about them bringing a stray dog into his hotel.

Robert cringes as the man steps into the small space, giving them both a swift look that resembles the way one might look upon a piece of trash he stumbles upon. His eyes settle on Alma and the creature snuggled in her arms.

It’s over, they both think.

“What do you have there sweety?”

“Just a poor little puppy I’ve found outside, in the parking lot. Someone must’ve left the poor thing there in the rain.”

“I see. Phone your sister and see if she can take it to the center, will you?”

“I will, daddy,” Alma answers cheerfully.

The elevator stops once more, a floor below the one their rooms are located on, and Mr. Goldson disembarks, completely ignoring the two men’s presence.

“You’re Mr. Godson’s daughter?” Robert asks, feeling the need to state the obvious. “You could have told me before we…”

“No, I couldn’t have,” Alma cuts him off.

They all quietly step into the ninth floor’s hallway, awkwardly pausing, all unsure of what’s next.

“Look, my sister works at an animal rescue center. I’ll give her a call and ask if she can drop by and take the puppy, but I’m sure that will take some time. Do you think you can take care of it until then?”

Bonzo wants to say no. He knows he’ll be dragged further into this mess and as much as he’s sorry for the little guy, he wants nothing but a nap. Robert, of course, is quick to agree.

“Brilliant! Go give him a bath and I’ll get something for him to eat,” Alma says, handing the puppy to Robert then disappearing back into the elevator.

“I’m going to-”

“No,” Robert firmly says and Bonzo finds himself unable to do nothing else than pathetically sigh and follow the singer into his room.

Turns out Robert has no prior experience in bathing puppies and the whole thing gets messy really fast. His already wet shit is now soaking and the bathroom floor isn’t faring any better.

“Let’s name him George,” Bonzo says, peacefully smoking his cigarette while watching Robert wrestle a scared creature in the bathtub.

“I’m pretty sure it’s a she.”

“Let’s name her Ludmilla then.”

Robert raises an eyebrow.

“I once slept with a bird called Ludmilla,” Bonzo explains.

“We all slept with her, Bonzo.”

Someone aggressively knocks on the door and Bonzo, expecting to find Alma behind it, is surprised by Jimmy.

“G’day, mate. Good to see you in Robert’s room. See, I told you they’re shagging,” he turns around to tell Jonesy who is leaning against the wall behind him.

“What the fuck do you want, Jimmy?”

“I come in peace,” he says, pushing his way into the room, quietly followed by Jonesy. What also seems to follow him is that sad excuse of an Australian accent. “Can I borrow some toilet paper?”

“Go ask some maid.”

“They won’t give him any more,” Jonesy clarifies.

As usual, he seems to be following Jimmy around just to see him get in trouble, which is a pretty rewarding thing to do, Bonzo thinks, especially when it often ends with him getting punched.

“I have a project to finish and it is absolutely essential that I get all the materials needed for it.”

“Can you fucking quit talking like that? It makes me wanna punch you more than usual,” Bonzo says.

He doesn’t get the chance to as Robert emerges from the bathroom holding little Ludmilla in a fluffy towel. The bath didn’t magically turn her pretty or anything, but she does smell much better.

“Oh my, oh dear, you have a dog. Jonesy, they have a dog. Are you seeing this? It’s so ugly.”

“She’s not ugly, you terrible thing. She’s special.”

Robert feels the need to defend the poor creature and Jimmy can’t help but laugh at the whole situation. Jonesy, on the other hand, demands to hold her.

“That’s Ludmilla. Robert found her and brought her in. We’re holding her until this chick he shagged the other night gets her sister to take her to some center,” Bonzo explains.

“One,” Jimmy says, raising his index finger into the air, “I want to know the exact details of how you smuggled that thing into the hotel, and two, I think said thing is peeing on Jonesy.”

Everyone’s eyes slowly shift to Jonesy and the growing wet spot on his shirt.

“God, what the-”

Jimmy and Bonzo burst out in laughter while Robert is quick to get the puppy away from their bass player.

“You know,” Jimmy says, scratching her behind the ears lovingly, “I think Robert is right. She is special.”

The whole situation makes for a rather interesting story and Robert is more than eager to share it with the night’s audience.

* * *

Alma’s sister brings Ludmilla at the airport so they can all say goodbye to her and promises they’ll keep in touch. They all want to see little Ludmilla grow into a happy, healthy dog.

“Can’t we keep her?” Jonesy asks for the hundredth time before it’s time to give her back.

“As much as I would love to see her pissing on you again, we can’t bring her along on tour,” Jimmy reasons.

Bonzo finds Robert sitting by himself and watching the whole scene with a deep frown. His farewell was rather short and Bonzo knows out of them all he’s gotten attached the most.

He offers Robert a cigarette and his company.

“I’m glad I pulled over, you know…”

“Yeah,” Robert says, still not looking away from where Ludmilla is resting in Alma’s arms. “Me too.”


End file.
